


Superimposed Ghost

by florencedrunk



Series: The March 2017 Stucky Challenge [16]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Canon complaint up to CA:TWS, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-16
Updated: 2017-03-16
Packaged: 2018-10-06 05:06:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10326218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/florencedrunk/pseuds/florencedrunk
Summary: S.H.I.E.L.D. falls and Hydra falls and Steve falls. But someone falls after him and drags him out of the water.He wants to know why.10. fool's hope





	

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I'm halfway through..

S.H.I.E.L.D. falls and Hydra falls and Steve falls. But someone falls after him and drags him out of the water.

He wants to know why.

 

* * *

 

"There's a reason people think he's a ghost," Sam says. "He won't be easy to find."

"But we know he's not," Steve retorts. "We know who he is."

"You have to consider the possibility that he's... _gone_."

"No, I don't."

 

* * *

 

Tony sits quietly while Steve explains what Zola showed Natasha and him. He doesn't say a single word for the whole time and it's probably one of the scariest things Steve's ever seen. He spends the next four days in his lab, until Pepper drags him out to make him eat and sleep. Then, he presents Steve with a thumb drive.

"Go get him," he says.

 

* * *

 

There are seven dots on the map, starting from New York, and then going down through Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. All former S.H.I.E.L.D. bases, all burned down in the last month.

"You think it's him?" Sam asks.

"Only one way to find out."

 

* * *

 

Steve finds him three levels underground. He's wearing a brown coat and has a rifle slung across his back, a lighter in one hand and a gun in the other. His hair is longer, but the warpaint around his eyes is gone, and now his face looks even emptier. As soon as they see each other they become completely still, as if they both don't want to scare the other by moving too suddenly.

"Why are you doing this?" Steve asks.

"They kept me here," the Winter Soldier says, voice deep and marked by a Russian accent. The lighter falls from his hand and the flames consume the building. And then he's gone.

 

* * *

 

Peggy is old and small and can barely move. Her hair is white and her face wrinkled. Half of the time she has no idea of what year it is, and her moments of lucidity keep getting shorter. She still manages to be the most beautiful woman Steve has ever met.

"Do you remember Sergeant Barnes?" he asks her, just because.

"James," she says, eyes suddenly awake. "Did you two finally make up your minds?"

 

* * *

 

"You used to be smaller," a voice says. Steve jumps in his own skin.

It's so strange to see him in the middle of his apartment, face half covered in the darkness, metal arm glistening still. It's like someone cut him out of his natural habitat and pasted him into this reality. (That's exactly what happened, Steve realises later)

"I did," Steve replies once he gets a hold of himself. "You remember that?"

"I used to be a person."

Then he's gone again.

 

* * *

 

He steals from Steve — photos that the museum gave him, bus tickets, sweaters and pants that he left lying around. In return, he finds knifes and guns on his kitchen table from time to time.

 

* * *

 

"You cut your hair," is the first thing Steve says when he sees him. It's such a stupid thing to say when you are standing in the middle of an abandoned warehouse, but the man wearing Bucky's face smiles. He's wearing Steve's clothes — the ones Pepper bought for him — and they actually fit him. He looks, for the first time, real.

There are bodies scattered all around him, but Steve doesn't really care. He knows they were Hydra.

"They were the last ones," Bucky says, Brooklyn accent adorning every word. "What do I do now?"

"I have friends, they can help you."

He just nods.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have questions or just want to say hi you can find me on [tumblr](http://florencedrunk.tumblr.com).


End file.
